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Gospel Book of the Archbishop John

Armenian

Not on view


Archbishop John, the youngest half-brother of King Hetum I, appears as an old man ordaining a deacon in this Gospel Book made for his own use. The hem of his tunic displays an ornate Central Asian Chinese dragon motif from Mongol-controlled lands. The dragon and the fleur-de-lis on his earlier portrait in the Marshal Oshin Gospel Book exemplify Cilicia’s role as a major conduit of trade between the East and West under the Pax Mongolica.


Gospel Book of the Archbishop John, Ink, tempera, and gold on parchment; 353 folios, Armenian

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